I got out Friday and Saturday on the MTB. By Sunday, my legs were Jello. (I'd also run 12 miles during the week)

Trails were awesome; a little muddy but my new rear tire gripped nicely, and my bike was too clean to begin with anyways. There's one part of my normal loop, about 3/4 to the top of the mountain, where a chute down a pretty steep hill breaks up the 45 minute climb to the outlook. On Friday I did what I always do on the run up. Crest the climb, stand up and give it all I have for the 100 yard flat section before the banked left turn, log drop, chute the pine trees and send it over the hill. Friday was no different, except this is Connecticut, and it's only March. I had about a hundred feet after that nifty little log drop to realize this North-facing hill was still completely covered with ice. Talk about pucker! I slowed down all I could and bailed off the trail into the 6" or so of soft stuff on the side. Luckily it was a soft landing, and my shin guards worked well!

Running through the winter helped with my climbing, but I wasn't nearly as fast or agile as I felt at the end of last season - I can't wait to shake more cobwebs this week.

I was inspired by the sight of some roadies I met last week. These guys had massive tree-trunk thighs and virtually no fat. I kept thinking about how fast I could go on the trails if I were in that kind of shape, so I'm putting myself on a strict diet combined with every day rides, instead of just riding on weekends.

__________________Dizave opined: Why do you care where the premises come from? They are above reproach. For all intents and purposes, you can just make up all your premises, since they can't be proven anyway. That's why we need premises.

In light of my last post (whining about minutiae) this is probably the height of hypocrisy, but here goes: couldn't the helmet manufacturers have saved themselves a boatload of money and just rebranded their skate/hockey/snowsports helmets as the new aero road helmets? Because I can't tell the difference.

__________________"The V-Strom Man sits up straight and only picks his nose when he is 100% sure that no one is looking." -Uncle Larry

In light of my last post (whining about minutiae) this is probably the height of hypocrisy, but here goes: couldn't the helmet manufacturers have saved themselves a boatload of money and just rebranded their skate/hockey/snowsports helmets as the new aero road helmets? Because I can't tell the difference.

That's been bandied about on the 'serious cyclists' forums too. Save all that $ and just get a skate helmet. Looks the same. The new Specialized and Scott helmets are a different story. We'll have to see about them once they're officially released.

I want the trunk mount rack like in this pic:

M

__________________
I'm a cyclist that rides motos, not a moto rider that rides bicycles.

Since Huck-n-Roll was bought out by competitive cyclist I have been getting their e-mails about twice a week now. Today's e-mail. All I could think was: Should I post this in the mid-life crisis car thread up in Shiny Things?

I am fairly certain that bike would be wasted on the trails I have locally.

Since Huck-n-Roll was bought out by competitive cyclist I have been getting their e-mails about twice a week now. Today's e-mail. All I could think was: Should I post this in the mid-life crisis car thread up in Shiny Things?

I am fairly certain that bike would be wasted on the trails I have locally.

If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of Aurelius peeling out of his driveway headed for the nearest Santa Cruz dealer.

__________________"The V-Strom Man sits up straight and only picks his nose when he is 100% sure that no one is looking." -Uncle Larry

I hadn't ridden since Monday and have fighting a bit of a cold. I felt it. I had intended to ride all of May's century route, but didn't have enough left to attempt the final loop and its extra 2000' of climbing.

Next weekend is a road trip up to Medford for The Rouge Flahute.

Hell, yeah. I got out for 72 and 7K of climbing on Saturday. This weekend will be about 80 and 8K.

I was inspired by the sight of some roadies I met last week. These guys had massive tree-trunk thighs and virtually no fat. I kept thinking about how fast I could go on the trails if I were in that kind of shape, so I'm putting myself on a strict diet combined with every day rides, instead of just riding on weekends.

I've had tremendous gains with strength training, particularly my glutes and core. When the quads are failing, it's nice to activate glutes and return rolling. Core strength ensures power goes to the pedals instead of rocking my hips on the saddle and other waste.

This has helped me get smaller, but the number on the scale is about the same, I hate to say. At least I'm pedaling around less useless mass.

I've had tremendous gains with strength training, particularly my glutes and core. When the quads are failing, it's nice to activate glutes and return rolling. Core strength ensures power goes to the pedals instead of rocking my hips on the saddle and other waste.

This has helped me get smaller, but the number on the scale is about the same, I hate to say. At least I'm pedaling around less useless mass.

And, as my trainer says, "Ass moves mass", so build those glutes!

What sort of strength exercises have you been doing?

__________________Dizave opined: Why do you care where the premises come from? They are above reproach. For all intents and purposes, you can just make up all your premises, since they can't be proven anyway. That's why we need premises.

Went out for a little over 23 miles this morning. Temps were in the mid 20s when we left ...April 1 and mid 20s...and I brought the wrong gloves. I almost thought I was going to have to bail cause my thumbs got really cold right away, but they got better. My toes got cold too, even with neoprene shoe covers and heavy socks.

Since Huck-n-Roll was bought out by competitive cyclist I have been getting their e-mails about twice a week now. Today's e-mail. All I could think was: Should I post this in the mid-life crisis car thread up in Shiny Things?

I am fairly certain that bike would be wasted on the trails I have locally.

yeesh, 650B wheels on a mountain bike? 26 (559) is too small, and 29er/700c (622) is too big, so we need 584mm rims?